Copy - Why do so many neglect&nbspyou?

This YouMoz entry was submitted by one of our community members. The author’s views are entirely his or her own (excluding an unlikely case of hypnosis) and may not reflect the views of Moz.

Sometimes when I start my online experience with a website, I ponder and think to myself about how much business the owners must be losing, for one reason only – the copy, or “general text” on the site is …. well, crap. Yes, it may be a great design, but that’s not going to entice me into working with this company. I want to know what the site is about and what is in it for me.

I think one of the most important parts of a website is the copy, or text. Not the look of the website, but the copy of the website. If someone is going to read something that is compelling and puts across the message, I am sure that in 90% of the cases they will look past a poor design.

This is why I don’t understand why the general text is neglected in so many cases when it comes to the website creation process. You have about 3 seconds to lure a prospect into reading and learning more about what you have to offer. Do you really think someone is going to want to dig deeper into your website if you’ve got boring and utterly non-engaging copy? The answer is obviously and simply no – remember, the exit button is only at the top of the screen and a prospect can quite easily click on it.

Let’s take the text below for an example:

“Offering Weekly, Monthly and Yearly Rentals of this beachside property in Dromana.”

“Beaches, local wineries, horse riding and the Dromana Drive In are at your fingertips.”

Although this is simple and lets the prospect know what they need to know, it’s definitely not engaging and interesting; imagine if this was on a real estate website, placed against this example:

“‘Escape is set in the heart of the Mornington Peninsula and is an easy 10 minute walk to local shops and the renowned Dromana Forshaw.”

“Enjoy candlelit dinners with million dollar views and great lunches with friends in your very own beach box.”

“Come home to relax in a three bedroom, fully equipment house, packed with entertainment for all your family and friends.”

“Or enjoy all the peninsula has to offer with trips to Portsea, local wineries, horse riding and the famous Dromana Drive In.”

We have included all the information in the first example in the second example, plus more.

If we make some simple yet easy changes to the text, it gives us a much better chance to keep our prospect engaged and wanting to learn more. We’ve added more detail and information, added some great descriptive words and we’ve got the message across to our prospect – all they have to do now is click on the better option out of the two to learn more.

It may sound very easy, but it is in reality very hard. People go to great lengths to get that perfect mixture of compelling, interesting, detailed and “keyword – rich” text.

For the small business owners out there who are having a tough time getting there copy together, here are a few points to help you out:

Each paragraph should have one main point. Keep that point the main focus for that paragraph. Say it loud and say it clear.

Don’t make your message too complicated. Prospects want something easy and simple to understand. If they don’t get it, they’ll click on that dreaded exit button.

Short paragraphs get the message across. People will get scared away if they're confronted with a large block of text – why not break it up into separate paragraphs?

Write for the prospect, not the search engine. I mentioned keyword rich content before--that doesn’t mean you chuck your keywords everywhere. Weave them in so the text makes sense.

Bold key points and words that you want your prospects to remember and take notice of the most. This doesn’t mean bold a point or a word in every sentence--be selective in your “boldness” selection. Emphasize words that you want your prospects to remember and take notice of the most.

What do you think of these points, what ones would you add or get rid of?

For some, writing about their own business is very hard; that’s why there are professionals out there who can write it for you. If you’re not a writer, you should definitely consider employing the services of a copywriter. Copy is really the main reason why a prospect turns into a conversion; that’s why the copy has to be “A grade.”

My name is Kyle, and I'm still advancing my learning into the wide and interesting world of search marketing.

Hi,I do agree with you - I properly didn't elaborate enough on that point.I do believe that obliviously the packaging should be of good standard - but I think some people do overlook that. I think good packaging is another step into creating a prospect into a conversion, maybe a topic that good be discussed later on.It's all about the website creation process I guess, to be ultimately successful all aspects (design, copy etc.) need to be of top notch quality. Cheers.

Sorry, kyles, but my former existence as a sub is rearing its ugly head here:

"Sometimes when I start my online experience with a website, I ponder and think to myself about how much business the owners must be losing, for one reason only – the copy, or “general text” on the site is …. well, crap.

Copywriting is a specialist skill, which some web designers and marketers believe they possess as a divine right.

The underlining above is how I would have marked the copy before sending the opening paragraph back for a rewrite (strikethroughs apparently don't work in the WYSIWYG). The point is not to attack you or your post in particular, but to point out that the ability to create websites is something different from crafting attractive copy.

Explanations

1. Sometimes is a "weasel word" - either something is happening or it isn't

2. What is an "online experience with a website"? More direct.

3. What is the difference between pondering and thinking to oneself and, if there is one, do you need to mention both?

4. Confused grammar and confusing clauses. More direct.

To be fair and to open myself up for criticism, here's how I would have rewritten that first sentence (using the same thoughts):

There's one good reason website owners are losing business from their pages - their online text stinks.

In general though, I agree with your points. I would add that people need to take a hard look at their copy and cut out "flabby" words. DigitalGhost (always worth a read) had a good piece on this subject lately: Lazy Words

I understand that copywriting is a specialist skill and I certinaly don't have that skill, thats why I don't offer my services as a copyrighter, heck - I don't even offer web design or SEO services yet - I'm still advancing my education in these areas.

I was just presenting some thoughts on what I have noticed as a visistor to some website and after reading some stuff about conversions and what users think - what attracts them?

The points were just there to try and finish off the post, and are pretty simple and obvious ones that anyone who has read a bit on copyright blogs would know.

In regards to how I have mentioned it in relation to the website creation process - I think creating good copy is definetely appart of this process, it's apart of the overall package and what the users see.

I jumped straight to the comments before I even consider reading the body of the post!

I like the overall message of this post, as marketers we aren't focusing as a sector on content and this needs to change.

1., 2., 3. Can't agree with you more, excellent!

4. Convincing clients that what you've written engages visitors and is 'better' than their own content is a headache we need to overcome in a currently webanoid - to be afraid of the web - environment; still recovering from the Internet crash.

5. I tend to believe bolded points detract the intended message as users have been overwhelmed with spammy techniques such as this before; take the examples you provided, I avoided reading them till I absolutely had to, if I didn't need to I would have skipped over it and continued. Use of summary lists is in my opinion a much more effective method of communicating key points.

Hi Michael,I couldn't agree with you more about convincing clients into allowing us write the copy - especially if you want them to pay for it.In most cases, I find that the client always says "yep, sure we'll give you the text", but usually we end up writing it - I don't know if this is because they don't have any experience in writing or can't find the time to do it - properly a mixture of both, but I know it makes every web designer angry when you have to sit around for 3 weeks and wait for one single article. Cheers.

I had teachers in college who'd automatically mark your work down at least one grade point if it was not proofread. A spelling error here or there might have been okay, but half the copy on the net would get you a C- at best from half of my professors.

Those are some helpful tips, especially if you don't consider yourself a copywriter. We have something in common, copywriting by default.

About typos I think it's important to mention that mistakes happen with a humans but worse mistakes happen with computers. For instance “Come home to relax in a three bedroom, fully equipment house, packed with entertainment for all your family and friends.” What exactly is a fully equipment house?

This happens to me all the time with "spell check". The computer misinterprets a word or your grammar usage. The computer's spell and grammar check is no substitute for a human editor (even if they have no qualifications).

Also, I agree with how important design is. Ffter all copywriting is just design with words, its writing with intent, in this case grabbing readers or promoting something.

"copywriting by default."I definitely don't think I'm a copywriter by default, I think most people who offer this service would realise that from reading the post - I still have a lot of work to do to get my writing skills "top notch".

"This happens to me all the time with "spell check". The computer misinterprets a word or your grammar usage. The computer's spell and grammar check is no substitute for a human editor (even if they have no qualifications)."I agree 100%, I always do the spell check and think "well it says its all good, so It must be" - this is far from the truth. I think the best way to go about is is just to ask a friend or mate who you know is good at their English to take a quick look.